Living Past the End
by NamelessTraveler
Summary: When Rose finally gets back to her universe for the Doctor, she comes in contact with old friends. However, the return of an old enemy stops the reunion from being as happy as she had hoped. AU. If you can't tell, I'm terrible at summaries. Don't expect anything great, this is my first fanfic, and I just wanted to write down some of what I had in my head. Reviews are appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Rose Tyler stepped into the warm water of the shower. She had just finished one of the worst days of her life since Bad Wolf Bay. She had dreamed of him again last night, a preface to the painful reminders that the coming day would force on her, from the skinny man in the brown suit that had appeared at one of her father's sales meetings, to the red trainers that her younger brother Tony had eagerly picked out and displayed for the rest of the day. The work on the dimension canon had come to halt. The problem of stopping the walls of her universe from collapsing after transportation had continued to baffle her after weeks of work. She had been surprised at how naturally the construction of the canon had come to her. It may have been the result of her determination to return to the Doctor, though she suspected that it was a small portion of Bad Wolf still working inside her, using the human form to reunite with the TARDIS.

Rose usually only allowed herself short showers in an effort to conserve water. She had decided that Doctor or no, she would continue to attempt to save the Earth. She had donated a sizable portion of her father's wealth to charity, and was connected to quite a few non-profit organizations. Today, however, she let herself give in to the desire of a bit of pampering, even if it did stop her from achieving her goal of continuing the Doctor's legacy, albeit slowly. She spent what felt like ages basking in the warmth, thinking about her adventures with him. Images of their all to short time together flashed in her mind. The first time she laid eyes on him, the tug on her hand as he grabbed it, staring into the heart of the TARDIS just to rescue him, waking up with no memory of her time as Bad Wolf, the realization that he was dying, and the shock of the new Doctor. Rose remembered how unsure of him she had been at first, though her trust quickly grew. She saw all the times that she thought for certain she would lose him, and how they always managed to find each other again. Until that one day. Nothing in her life had prepared her for the crippling pain of knowing that they were worlds away from each other, and the bitterness of the unfinished good bye. Soon, salty tears joined the warm water spilling over her face.

Finally, with some effort, she dispelled the bitter thoughts, quickly washed her hair, and stepped out of the shower. Rose dried off, and had just changed into her softest shirt when her phone rang. "Hullo," she said, answering on the second ring.

"Miss Tyler?" asked an unfamiliar voice. "You're wanted at Torchwood as soon as possible. The problems with the dimension canon have been resolved, and it is ready for use."

She was lost for words. This is it, she thought. Her chance to find him again. Her thoughts almost immediately flashed to her family, Mickey, and Jake. There was no guaranty that the canon would work twice. There was still the serious risk that she wouldn't survive this trip. She might never see any of them ever again. On the other hand, she knew the she needed the Doctor, and she felt strongly that he needed her as well. "I'll be there in an hour," she said, and hung up.

Rose started running towards her parent's room as soon as she had changed into some presentable clothes. "Mum! Dad! It's working! The canon is working!" she shouted, her voices choked by even more tears.

Pete and Jackie Tyler sprang out of bed, their faces dark with understanding. Jackie clutched a groggy Tony to her hip, his young eyes happy, oblivious to the despair of his parents. Pete swallowed and pulled rose into a tight hug. Jackie wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her daughter's wet cheeks. "I'll miss you two," Rose said shakily.

"A day won't go by without us thinking of you," Pete replied, and pressed his lips to the top of Rose's head. "Just remember that we love you very much."

Rose nodded, fighting back the next wave of sobs. "I love you too," she managed to choke out.

"You be careful out there," Jackie said, pulling her daughter into one last embrace.

"I will." Rose attempted a smile. "If there is any way for me to contact you again, I swear that I will." With one more set of goodbyes, promises of love, and kisses for Tony, Rose left her parent's house, unsure if she would ever see it again.

After the half-hour drive that felt like eternity, Rose finally arrived at the lab. It was a fairly small, nondescript building, the only branch of Torchwood that existed in this universe. She was greeted by Mickey and Jake, who quickly led her through familiar, brightly lit room to the canon. It was really only a small, circular enclosure, called a canon only because of how it had looked on the ground during construction. Theoretically, it would create a small hole in the two universes, and push her through. A team of scientists monitored it, and alerted Rose every time something changed. They seemed particularly excited tonight, though most of them cast nervous glances towards her. Once she had finished her farewells to Jake and Mickey, Dr. Vallas, the head scientist, who had been pulled out of her bed for this, directed Rose into the tube. "Good luck," she whispered.

"Thank you," Rose replied, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat. Finally the door was shut, and she lost sight of the grim faces of Mickey and Jake. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself as she heard the muffled sounds of switches being flipped. _I'm coming, Doctor_, she thought, and then everything dissolved into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Martha Jones was driving back to her flat when a young blonde woman stumbled in front of her car. She slammed on the brakes, stopping within a few feet of her. The girl scrambled back up onto the sidewalk and gestured for Martha to pull over.

"Oh my god," the woman cried. "I'm so sorry!" her speech was slurred, and she seemed disoriented.

"Are you okay?" Martha asked. "I can help, I'm a doctor."

"If it's okay, could I get a ride to…" the girl trailed off. "I'm sorry, I'm feeling a bit dizzy right now. I had planned to meet an old friend here, but I'm realizing now how bad my plan was." The girl looked totally crushed.

"I could take you back to my flat," Martha suggested, feeling bad for her. "You could call your friend and sober up a bit."

"Oi!" she protested. "I'm not drunk!"

"Sorry, it just seemed like, er, you were umm," Martha stammered.

"I guess I was a bit wobbly. I think I'll have to take you up on your offer, unless, of course, you plan on kidnapping me."

Martha laughed, and an image of one of her first trips with the Doctor to New New York sprang to mind. She held out a hand. "I'm Martha Jones. I swear that I don't plan on kidnapping you."

"Nice to meet you Martha Jones," the girl said, shaking her hand. Martha opened the passenger door, and the girl hopped in. "Thank you so much," she said, her speech becoming more normal. "I just have to stay for a little bit, to get things straightened out. I'll try to call him soon."

"Him?" Martha asked, raising an eyebrow.

The girl laughed. "Yeah. We're not in a relationship; it's just sort of… complicated."

"Believe me, I know what you mean," Martha said. "I spent a lot of times with this one man, and there were times I felt like he was totally flirting with me, and others when it was like he didn't know that I existed."

The girl smiled softly, and Martha was surprised by the amount of sadness in her eyes. They sat in silence for the rest of the ride.

After another few minutes of travel, they arrived at Martha's building. The girl followed her up the steep staircases to the flat. One inside, Martha gestured to a seat in the living room. "You can wait here while I make us some tea." The girl smiled appreciatively, and took a seat.

Martha entered her kitchen and released a stifled shriek. In the middle of room stood Captain Jack Harkness, wearing his usual grin. "Martha Jones!" he announced, wrapping his arms around her.

"Jack," she said, "what the hell are you doing in my kitchen?"

"I need to talk to you." His answer was interrupted by the woman running into the room, a look of disbelief on her face. Jack's face quickly changed to a similar expression.

"It can't be," the girl said. "You died."

"He does that a lot," Martha sighed. "I take it you two know each other?"

Jack nodded. "We traveled together for a while. Last I heard though, she was in a whole different universe. Martha Jones, meet Rose Tyler." He pulled the blonde girl into a hug.

A smile spread across Martha's face. "Oh my god. The Doctor's going to be so happy. You have to call him right now!"

"How do you know who I am?" asked Rose, stepping back.

"The Doctor. He _never _stops talking about you," Martha answered. "We used to travel together. That's how I met Jack."

At the mention of his name, Rose turned back to the captain. "How did you get to Earth _alive_?"

"Back on Satellite Five, Bad Wolf brought me back to life. I was able to transport back to Cardiff to wait for the Doctor. Pretty soon though, I discovered that Bad Wolf was still working in my system. Every time I died, I woke up fine a few minutes later."

"Gave me quite a scare the first couple of times that it happened," Martha smiled. "But why are you here Jack? As nice as this is, it's not like you to stop by just for a reunion."

Jack's expression darkened. "Something's wrong. It's spread through the entire universe. No one knows what it is, but entire planets are becoming devoid of life in only a couple of minutes. I figure that it's time to get as many of us together as possible, just in case."

"Has anyone tried getting in touch with the Doctor?" Martha asked.

Jack nodded. "I told him to come here. He should actually appear any minute now." Rose's heart fluttered. He was so close. Jack's words echoed in her mind. _Any minute now_.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The Doctor sat alone in the TARDIS. He stared at the controls. Where could he go? He felt as if showing his companions the universe was most of the fun of traveling. The look of wonder on their faces when they really began to see how beautiful everything seemed was priceless. Though he would never admit it, he also loved the opportunities to display his talents. Rose had called it showing off, and had frequently teased him about it. He quickly pushed the thought away. He needed to move on from her, and that was only going to happen if he stopped thinking about her dark eyes, the way she had smiled with her tongue behind her teeth, that laugh that made his hearts beat faster. _Come on Doctor, you're stronger than this_, he said to himself.

If he could survive the Time War, on top of all the other dangers he had faced since then, he could survive losing her. Or could he? It wasn't just her that vanished; it was everyone he got close to. Sarah Jane, Martha, Jack, Mickey. He sighed. Things were bad when he started missing Mickey the idiot. Maybe he should just stop taking companions. He always ended up alone in the end. They would always find someone else, or decide that all of the near-death experiences were too much. They would settle down and start a new life while he had to keep running. He wondered what would happen if he ever stopped moving. The whole universe would probably collapse. He was the last of the Time Lords, and the burden if keeping everything working rested entirely upon his shoulders.

The bright ringing of the TARDIS's phone interrupted his thoughts. He answered quickly, glad for the distraction. "Doctor," came the familiar voice of Jack Harkness on the other line.

"Jack!" he responded, hoping that he sounded happy.

"You're needed back on Earth. Can you get to Martha's flat in a couple of minutes?" asked the captain.

"Of course!" said the Doctor, locking onto the call. "I'll be there soon." He programmed the information into the TARDIS and held on to the rail for dear life. The machine shook him back and forth, throwing around any objects that were not secured. He ran around the controls, tugging on levers, pushing buttons, and flipping various switches. Flying the TARDIS was even more difficult on his own, and he constantly had to struggle to remain standing. A few times, he was forced to hit a few things back into place with the mallet that he kept close at hand at all times.

Suddenly, the TARDIS came to a complete halt, throwing the Doctor to the ground despite his best efforts. He jumped up and checked his current coordinates. He was somewhere close to Earth, though still just floating in empty space. Concerned, he carefully opened the doors. Surely enough, he could see the bright planet that had become his second home, though part of his vision was obscured by the large, cylindrical space station, its semi-circle extensions rotating slowly. It couldn't be. The Doctor ran back inside and checked the year. I was still 2008. He hit the screen. There must be some sort of glitch. Nothing changed.

The Doctor was certain that he had identified the ship properly. He didn't think he would ever be able to forget Satellite Five. Something must have caused the time lines to converge, and he understood why Jack had wanted him back on Earth. The intersection of time would generate enough power to wipe out entire galaxies, large portions of the universe destroyed.  
Then another fear struck him. If Satellite Five had been pulled into this time, the Dalek fleet would not be far behind. He had seen that the attack in the future was a set point in time, and if it happened hundreds of thousands of years early, the damage that it could do might rip a hole in the fabric of time.

He stood paralyzed in the middle of the TARDIS. He had to tell Jack as soon as possible. The Doctor did not want to think about what might happen if the satellite made any contact with Earth. He had dealt with enough paradoxes to know the extreme danger the time lines were in. The risk of running into his previous incarnation also worried him.

Despite the dangers, however, his mind was already racing to find ways to repair time and send everything back without giving away his identity. He was already sure that he would not be able to do it alone, and another Time Lord was the only one who could return things to normal without damaging anything. He ran his hand through his hair nervously. This would be very difficult, especially without actively using Jack around his old self.

He allowed himself a moment of weakness. This was impossible. The risk of letting something slip was too high; even if he could hide himself, stop the entire Dalek army, all while discovering the source of the conjoining time lines and fixing it. On top of that, he would have to let the slaughter of the humans on board play out, knowing exactly what was going to happen. _That's enough_, he told himself. _You specialize in the impossible._

He took a deep breath and nudged the TARDIS to its destination on Earth. It seemed almost eager to land, disregarding the Doctor's comfort for a quicker route. He was thrown around like a rag doll, all while trying to operate the complex equipment correctly. He knew that he had to be very careful to land at the correct time, or else the plan that was starting to develop in his mind might be ruined. Finally, the box touched down, its arrival surprisingly gentle compared to the ride that was guaranteed to leave a few bruises. He stepped outside, bracing himself for the warm greetings the he had come to expect. He looked around when none came, and realized that he had parked at his old spot near Powell Estate. He swallowed hard and stepped back inside. Despite the programming, the TARDIS must have chosen that area as its designated place in London. He deftly maneuvered the ship to Martha's flat, ignoring all the memories that had bubbled up after the mistake.

When he landed again, the Doctor plastered on the fake smile that he had grown accustomed to, and hoped that it at least resembled a real expression. He knew that if he stalled any more, Martha and Jack would figure out that something more was wrong, so he straightened his tie, shrugged on his long brown coat, and stepped into the small room. Before he could do anything more, he was pulled into one of Jack's almost-too-tight hugs. "We've been waiting long enough for you Doctor. Someone couldn't seem to sit still for the five minutes it took the TARDIS to get here." The captain stepped back smiling, and both of the Doctor's hearts stopped. Standing next to Martha, a broad grin quickly chasing away her look of shock, was Rose Tyler.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Rose's smile grew until she felt as if her face could not fit it all. Then, much to her surprise, she began to sob. The Doctor, who had had just been staring at her with a look of utter disbelief, walked forward slowly, as if he wasn't sure whether or not she was real, and didn't want to spoil the illusion by moving too quickly. Then, in a moment, his arms were around her, pulling her close to his chest. She pressed her face into the familiar coat, and tried to sort out the wave of emotions that were overwhelming her. He rubbed her back softly. "It's really you," he whispered.

"It's me. It's really me," she laughed through the tears. "I promised you forever, remember?"

"Forever," he agreed. He rocked her back and forth slowly. They broke apart as Jack cleared his throat.

"I'm happy for you guys, I really am, but I have a feeling that the fate of the human race may be at stake again," he said.

"Oh, that. Yeah, the universe. Sorry, I forgot. About that," the Doctor stammered. "Well, on my way here I almost crashed the TARDIS into The Game Station."

Jack shrugged. "And?"

"It wasn't in its proper time. It's out there right now. Just floating around."

"Do you know if we're on it?" Rose asked, worried.

"No idea," the Doctor answered. "I didn't have time to find out. But it's bigger than that. The time lines are colliding. Two universes coming together. This is exactly the sort of thing that Time Lords were supposed to prevent."

Jack, who had been lost in thought, spoke up. "Satellite Five is our biggest problem right now. The fact that it turned up right before a reunion of the only survivors can't be a coincidence. Doctor, shouldn't you be able to sense other Time Lords?"

"Of course!" the Doctor shouted. "Jack, you're brilliant. I've been tuning it out since the Master, because it was becoming too much, but if I just concentrate, I should be able to check for him." The Doctor shut his eyes and bounced on his toes for a minute. "Yes! He's here. He's almost certainly noticed me, but I can't really see a way around that. But all he knows is that there's a Time Lord in this universe. If I'm careful, he won't find out that it's me."

"Doctor," Rose said. "If we're already on board, shouldn't the Daleks be on their way?"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, causing it to become even more disheveled that before. "We have to get going now. Everybody, in the TARDIS." As soon as everyone had piled in, he started his instructions. "Rose, Jack, the old me asks, just tell him that you ran into Martha and I in the satellite. If he asks about the future, tell him _nothing. _Try to avoid your past selves. Martha, you're fine. Just don't tell him that you traveled at all. And I… I need a name. I can't use John Smith."

"What about Tim Latimer, that kid that you taught in 1913?" Martha suggested.

"Perfect! Allons-y," the Doctor announced, and directed them to the controls.

"Doctor?" Rose asked. "What about Bad Wolf? Should it play out on its own?"

The Doctor nodded. "If it comes to that. I kind of hope that everything will be sorted out by then."

With that, they were off. Rose felt a small thrill. She was going to be able to see her first Doctor again. As much as she loved this incarnation, she still missed the man that had first shown her the universe.

She looked up to see the Doctor grinning at her from across the TARDIS. She smiled back at him. In a moment, all the stress of their task vanished. Rose stopped worrying about the Daleks, The Game Station, even the fact that their help might cause another paradox. All that mattered was that she was with him, traveling through the universe, just like they were supposed to. She felt, just then, as if nothing would ever be able to separate them.

She immediately took the thought back. Rose was not very superstitious, but those words had become a jinx. That's what she had said in 2012, right before Canary Warf. It was a curse, a tabooed phrase that she wouldn't repeat again, especially not before something as dangerous as this. She had already lost one Doctor because of these Daleks, and she wasn't going to let them rob her of another.

She was shaken (literally) out her reminiscence by the TARDIS. It was moving wildly, and Rose had to hold onto the rails with all her strength to avoid being thrown to the ground. She noted how used to this she had become, though this time, the motions seemed to be even more jerky and erratic than usual. "It can that we're headed into our personal time line, and it's trying to correct it," the Doctor yelled. "This might get a bit rough." He yanked at a couple of odd additions to the control panel, and the movement became slightly gentler. Then, with a great bump, it stopped.

"I'll go out first," Jack suggested. He slowly made his way to the doors, and pushed them open, apprehensively. He stepped out, the doors slamming behind him. Rose held her breath. _What if they had come too far? What of the ship was already swarming with Daleks?_ Within moments, Jack was back inside. "It's clear," he smiled, but worry shone in his eyes. Quietly, one by one, they left the ship. 

They were in an empty metal room, a sign above one of the doors labeling it as part of the Bad Wolf Corporation. Martha looked around. "Was it this empty before?" she asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. We need to find some sort of screen around here, it'll tell us what's going on right about now." He set of in no direction in particular, and Rose wondered if he had a layout of the satellite in his mind, or he had decided to wander around and hope for the best.

As they rounded a corner, a man carrying what appeared to be quite a large gun crashed into the Doctor, nearly knocking him off his feet. "I'm sorry," the man said, offering the doctor his free hand. "Captain Jack Harkness."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The Doctor gave the old Jack his widest grin, and shook his hand eagerly. "Tim. Tim Latimer. Very nice to meet you, captain!" His voice was almost an excited yell. Jack maintained his smile, but looked mildly uncomfortable.

"Captain Harkness," he repeated noticing Martha. She nodded politely and introduced herself, keeping him occupied just long enough for Rose and their Jack to dash behind some equipment.

"I'd love to stay and chat," old Jack said, "but I need to find some friends of mine." With a wink for both of them, he set of running again. When he had vanished behind a door, Rose and Jack left their hiding place.

"Well you certainly haven't changed much," Martha commented. "You run into random people on an almost completely abandoned space ship, and the first thing you do is flirt with them."

Rose laughed. "It was the first thing he did after saving my life. You get used to it after a while."

Jack, however, looked thoughtful. "Doctor, that must have been just before I met up with you. Where do we go from here?"

"Up to the 500th floor. We need to find what brought the Game Station here and reverse it before any more damage can happen," the Doctor said. "Jack, you bring Martha up first. I need to talk to Rose for a second." The captain raised a questioning eyebrow, an impish grin spreading across his face. The Doctor ignored the look, and Jack directed Martha down a hallway.

"Rose," the Doctor started, looking extremely uncomfortable. She knew how bad he was at discussing anything personal, and she tried to avoid the more emotional discussions for his sake. "I—I know we both, er, have strong feelings for each other, but I, we, can't act on them." Rose felt a lump rise in her throat. She had pictured his reaction to her appearance a thousand times, but even the worst ones weren't like this. Was he just going to pretend that their goodbye had never happened? In her mind, ignoring it was worse than rejection. "It's just that," he tugged on his ear awkwardly. "When Time Lords fall in love, an emotional bond is formed. It's our form of marriage, and usually only happens all at once. Sometimes, though, when two people are close enough, the bond starts on its own. It was already there when you were trapped in the other dimension. It made losing you all the more painful. Even it ever developed fully; being separated again would be unbearable." Rose nodded, unable to speak. She knew that what he was doing was for the best, that she was destined to die and leave him alone someday, but the whole thing seemed unfair to her. It was like they had just started a new chapter in their relationship, and then someone had slammed the book closed.

They stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes before the Doctor spoke again. "We should meet Jack and Martha," he said softly. Rose followed silently behind him. He hated this. Why couldn't he just have one life? How fantastic it would be if he could just spend the rest of his days with Rose, not worrying about him regenerating, or her growing old. His fingers ran absent-mindedly over the fog watch that he continued to keep with him at all times. _Maybe…_ He quickly pushed the thought away. He would have no memories of her left. It wouldn't even be him, really. Besides, Martha had had no trouble with telling him that he was absolute rubbish as a human. Near immortality was his burden, and fell to him to keep the universe safe from things like this.

After the most uncomfortable life ride of their lives, they reached floor 500. When they stepped out of the doors, it was clear that Martha and Jack had already got the attention of all of the workers. Martha was giving orders, telling them to search for a few things that might cause time rifts, while Jack searched through one of the computers. The Doctor was proud at how much they had both picked up from their time spent traveling.

"Come on!" Martha shouted. "We don't have much time!" The looks of fear that the workers gave her would have been almost comical if the situation was not so grave.

The doctor approached Jack discreetly. "Found anything yet?"

Jack shook his head. "We're running out of time. Rose has already been vaporized, so you and I should be up here any minute now."

The Doctor's hearts beat faster. They were almost out of time, and in a few moments he would have to deal with an exceptionally angry incarnation of himself. Sometimes he felt that he only reason that he was not killed by the Daleks immediately was the remaining emotions from losing Rose. He glanced over at her. She had wandered over to the woman, the Dalek's slave. She was connected into the system by hundreds of wires, and her eyes were glazed. Her face and hair were almost colorless. That poor girl would die soon.

Rose would have to see it happen, too. The Doctor sometimes wondered why she still traveled with him. She had been forced to see so much ugliness, and sometimes he was to blame. His hands were stained with metaphorical blood. So many deaths had happened because of him. His eyes swept the room. All of these worker's lives would end because of him. Because no matter how hard he tried, the Daleks always survived. Always. The Time Wars would never really end, not until either Gallifrey or Skaro finished what had been started so long ago. And, no matter what, it had to end with him.

"Rose?" asked a shocked, almost hurt voice, pulling him out of his thoughts. The Doctor wheeled around to see his ninth self standing in the doorway, blue eyes wide.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The confusion of the past Doctor grew as he noticed Jack. Ha stared intently at the man facing the computer, and then switched his gaze to the Jack standing next to him, who held his arms in a position of surrender, as if to say It's not my fault, don't look at me. The young woman next to them looked confused.

"Hold on," the previous Doctor said, approaching current Jack. "You're wrong."

"Thanks, Doc," he said sarcastically, but the old Doctor just continued to stare. He finally appeared to have given up, and turned to Rose.

"You're not the real Rose either." She shook her head apologetically, and his face fell. Rose, on the other hand, couldn't help but smile at the sight of her first Doctor. "What?" he asked testily.

"Nothing. It's nothing," she replied quickly. Rose looked quickly to her Doctor for support. He nodded slightly. "Jack and I are from the future. Well, your future. I guess it's actually the past to most of these people. This is Tim and Martha. We met them on our way here." Martha and the Doctor waved.

"So she's—you're—alive!" the Doctor exclaimed. The old Jack laughed aloud. Rose nodded. "I thought that you would have known better than to go back on your personal timeline though. Why didn't I stop you?"

Rose looked uncomfortable. "Well, the Game Station isn't supposed to be in this time line. The two universes are colliding, and we came here to find what was drawing them together. And return everything before…" she trailed off. They didn't know about the Daleks yet.

"Solar flares in one minute!" shouted the Floor Manager.

"I guess you'll find out soon enough," Rose continued. The Doctor explained to her that they had discovered the Dalek's presence when the Floor Manager's thoughts were blocked by the flares. "When your Rose was shot, she was transported onto a, umm, Dalek ship. We came here to stop them before they could invade. All life on Earth would in 2008." The Doctor paled.

"But it can't be 2008," he protested, motioning to the girl beside him, who was giving him an apprehensive look. "Lynda and I saw Earth ten minutes ago. It was definitely not the early 21st century." One of the workers approached the Doctor cautiously, cutting off the rest of his explanation.

"She," he motioned towards the Floor Manager, "wants to see you." After a nod from Rose, he followed the worker towards the woman, a look of distaste on his face.

The new Doctor pulled Rose over. "Satellite Five wasn't brought to our time on purpose. If I'm correct, which is almost certain, the time lines were pulled together by Bad Wolf's reaction to your reappearance in this universe. When we were brought into its time line, the universes snapped back together, bringing everything back to normal. Well, everything but us." Her eyes darted up to his face. For a second she had thought… never mind. He had made himself clear.

"Great. I'll tell Martha, you can tell Jack. Can we leave now?" she asked coolly.

"I don't think so," he admitted. "Not until the energy of Bad Wolf has been released. Until then, we just have to wait it out."

"Okay," she said, and turned away. The Doctor watched sadly as she broke the news to Martha and Jack, then sat on the floor next to Lynda. Everyone looked grim. He wondered if they could make it through this again. Jack had already had to give his life to this once, and the Doctor suspected that it would have to happen again.

His gaze shifted to where his ninth incarnation was finishing shouting questions at the Floor Manager. "I just need coordinates!" he yelled.

"My masters…. My masters always watching," she repeated.

He remembered the frustration that accompanied trying to communicate with her, how it had been worsened by his anger at losing Rose. He looked back towards her. She was still sitting next to Lynda, comforting her. Maybe he had made the wrong decision. After all, he was going to lose her someday, and it was going to hurt no matter what. She had coaxed him out of the dark place he had been living in since the Time War. A memory flashed before his eyes. Rose, the golden glow of the TARDIS silhouetting her as golden light poured from her eyes. She had referred to him as her Doctor. He liked that. It had seemed intimate. And really, that incarnation was hers. He had been reborn shortly before meeting her. His run in with the Nestene Consciousness had been his first encounter with alien life since the Time War ended. And he had died for her. The fear of her dying just to return to him rushed through him again. He would die a thousand times if it meant saving Rose Tyler. He hated how cold she become, her eyes staring right through him. He decided that he would rather she screamed at him in front of everyone. At least it would mean that she cared. He wanted so badly for her to care about him.

Stop it. He was just making the decision harder for himself. He had made rules about this for a reason. It was preventing damage in the long run.

His head snapped up as he noticed a slightly younger Rose Tyler on a screen above him. The Floor manager must have already given the coordinates and died. She was brave. She didn't deserve extermination.

"We have your associate. You will obey or she will be exterminated," came the harsh voice of a Dalek. His Rose and Jack had strategically positioned themselves out of the view of the screen.

"No," he said defiantly.

"Explain yourself."

"I said 'no.'"

"What is the meaning of this negative?" The Dalek sounded as confused as was possible.

"It means no."

"But she will be destroyed!"

"No! 'Cause this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna rescue her. I'm gonna save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet, and then I'm gonna save the Earth. And then—just to finish off—I'm gonna wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!" He liked that speech. He was very proud of that speech.

"But you have no weapons, no defenses, no plan."

"Yeah! And doesn't that scare you to death. Rose?"

"Yes Doctor?" she asked eagerly.

"I'm coming to get you."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"C'mon Doctor! We've got her coordinates, let's go!" shouted the Jack of that time.

"You can't just fly into the middle of a Dalek fleet," the Doctor scoffed. "We'd be killed before we could do anything."

"Unless you had a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator," the new Doctor said quietly. All eyes turned to him. "I mean, I'm just guessing."

"That's brilliant," his previous incarnation said. "What did you say your name was?"

"Tim." He cleared his throat. "Tim Latimer." Both Jacks looked at him admiringly. No one said a word.

"Shouldn't you get going?" Martha asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Right!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Jack, you come with me. I think it's best if the rest of you stay behind." Everyone nodded in agreement. The two men rushed through one of the many doorways into where the TARDIS was being kept. There was a faint sound of clanking, followed by the sound of the engines.

The Doctor noticed one of the workers grumble. "I don't have a good feeling about him or any of his friends," he muttered to the woman next to him, casting a glare in Jack and Martha's direction. The woman just nudged his arm and continued on with her job.

Apprehensive, the Doctor moved slowly across the room towards the man. He was greeted with a nod of the head. "Do you think we're safe?" He raised his voice by a few octaves, and hoped that the man would believe that the fear was real.

The man shook his head. "No. I think that they're," he gestured again to the couple in the corner, "involved in some sort of war, and they've dragged us all down with 'em. I'm Richard by the way." His strange introduction made the Doctor uncomfortable, a feeling that grew as he leaned in closer. "If you ask me, our only choice is to get them off of this ship, dead or alive."

Inadvertently, he backed away from Richard. He must have noted the look on the Doctor's face, because suddenly anger masked his features. "You're one of them! You're with them! I thought you knew too much." Richard looked as if he were about to murder the Doctor on the spot, but thought better of it at the last minute. The Doctor stared grimly at the man, trying to make it as clear as possible that violence was not an option. Finally, Richard turned away.

"Tim!" called Martha, jogging towards the Doctor. "I need to talk to you."

"Yeah?" he asked quietly, while walking her towards an empty section of the room, attempting to separate them from Richard.

"It's about Rose." Her voice lowered to match his.

"Mmhmm?"

"It's just," Martha paused, trying to find the right phrase, "she seems off. What exactly happened here, the first time?"

"Well, when the fighting started, I stent her back to her time. To get back to me, she looked into the heart of the TARDIS. She rescued me, disintegrated the Daleks, and brought Jack back to life. The power was too much though, and I had to absorb it into my body. All of the energy began to burn me up and I regenerated." He purposely didn't include his plan about the Delta Wave. Martha would find out soon enough, and he really wasn't proud of it.

She shrugged. "Or maybe she just misses her family. I kind of thought that you guys would have your hands all over each other for the first couple of days." The Doctor really hoped that he wasn't blushing. Martha's eyes widened, and she sighed, exasperated. "You didn't."

"What?" he asked defensively.

"You gave her the lonely Life of the Time Lord speech."

"I did not!"

"The girl that you're clearly in love with escaped an entire dimension just to see you again, and you decide to lecture her about how you can never settle down, and how we only have one life. Well, Doctor, you can't live without some heartbreak. Even if you are never romantic to anyone ever again, there will still be goodbyes that kill you inside. There's nothing that you can do about it. You're not cutting your losses; you're giving up an opportunity because you're scared. That's not fair to either of you."

The Doctor was struck by how passionately she argued about this. He wondered if she had met anyone since traveling with him. The echoing sound of the TARDIS stopped her from saying anything more, but she continued to look pointedly at him.

"Rose Tyler, meet future Rose Tyler," Jack said, leading a younger Rose, who was of course accompanied by the Doctor, into the room. She stared in disbelief at her older self standing next to Jack. The future Rose waved uncomfortably. "And This is Tim, Martha, and me, obviously."

"Are—Are the Daleks coming?" asked a male worker when the introductions were finished.

The past Jack nodded. "All half a million of them." The man let out an undignified squeak. The room broke out into mild chaos. "Hey! Over here," Jack shouted. "The Doctor has a plan." He nodded to the man next to him.

"Okay," the Doctor said. "The Daleks made a big mistake. They left me with this." He started pulling out pieces of equipment from the rooms computers. "A great big transmitter. If I can change the signal, fold it back, sequence it, we get… anyone?"

"A Delta wave," said both Jacks at the same time.

"Give the man a medal!" yelled the previous Doctor.

"Are you crazy?" asked past Jack.

"What's a Delta wave?" Richard interrupted.

"A wave of Van Cassadyne energy. It fries your brain, kills you dead," the future Doctor answered.

"And you're just going along with this?" he screamed. The other workers looked uncomfortable. "We're all going to die!"

"No, we're not," the Doctor responded coolly. "Hear him out." He tried to pay attention to the explanation that his past self was giving, but Richard's glares were becoming unsettling. The Doctor began to worry just how far that man would go to ensure his personal safety.

"This place can transmit a massive wave," carried on the ninth regeneration. "It'll wipe out the Daleks!"

"Well do it then," the younger Rose cheered. "Get started." A few cries of agreement rang out through the room.

"Trouble is," finished the Doctor reluctantly, "Wave this size, building this big, brain as clever as mine, that should take, ooh," he thought for a second. "Three days."

"We have 22 minutes," said a man at one of the remaining computers. The Doctor began yanking out wires and piping more quickly.

"Let's get started then," he grinned. Struck with an idea, the past Jack ran back towards the TARDIS. Future Jack followed. A few minutes later, the men came back out.

"We've got a force field," said one, the Doctor thought it was the younger man.

"They can't blast us out of the sky," the other explained. "But we're not protected from a physical invasion."

"Do they know about the Delta wave?" asked the man at the computer.

"They're probably working it out now," future Rose answered.

They continued to talk, and the Doctor joined his younger self on the floor. "Would you like help?" he asked. "I've been told that I'm very clever."

His past self gave him an odd look, but gestured to a pile of wires. "Get to work on the circuits." With a shiver of apprehension, he sat down. The end of the Time War was coming closer and closer, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The Jacks gathered everyone except the two Doctors and young Rose.

"Okay," the past Jack said. "We've concentrated the shields on the top six levels. If the Daleks want to stop the Doctor, they will have to enter at floor 494 and fight their way up."

"Who are they fighting?" a man asked.

"Us," answered future Jack, matter-of-factly.

"What are we fighting with?" questioned someone in the back.

"The guards had guns with bastic bullets," explained past Jack. "That's enough to blow a Dalek wide open."

"But there aren't even a dozen of us!" a woman protested.

"Then let's move it! Into the lift, isolate the lift controls," ordered past Jack. The workers hurried to follow their commands, while Martha, future Rose, Lynda and the Jacks hung back to say their goodbyes. Richard eyed them warily before following his coworkers.

"I—I just want to say, umm..." Lynda began to the past Doctor, "Thanks, I suppose. And… I'll do my best."

"Me too." The Doctor bobbed his head uncomfortably. He leaned forward as if he were going to kiss her cheek, but pulled back at the last minute, offering her a hand instead. They laughed uncomfortably. Martha tried to stifle a giggle.

Past Jack approached the versions of Rose and the Doctor from his time. "It's been fun," he smiled. "But I guess this is goodbye."

"Don't talk like that," reprimanded Rose. "The Doctor's going to do it. You just watch him. Besides, there's the future you, he's fine."

"Rose," Jack said, cupping her cheeks. She could tell that he knew the future version of himself was not really the same person. "You are worth fighting for." He planted a quick kiss on her lips.

"Wish I'd never met you Doctor," he said jokingly. "I was much better of as a coward." He grabbed the man's face and kissed him as well. At this, Martha let out a full blown laugh. "See you in hell," he finished, and ran off. Martha stepped forward.

"Don't do anything stupid and heroic, Tim," she said, hugging her Doctor. He smiled sadly back at her.

"Goodbye Martha Jones."

She turned away, misty-eyed, and wished Rose and the other Doctor luck.

The future Jack said his goodbyes, and hugged everyone tightly before setting of after Martha.

Lastly, Rose stepped forward. "See you on the other side," she told her first Doctor, shaking his hand. He grinned at her.

Forgetting her anger, she wrapped her arms around the new Doctor's neck. He grabbed her waist, lifting her gently. "Promise me that you'll come back in one piece," she whispered.

"I promise," he replied quietly.

She released him and turned to herself. "Can I give me a hug, or will there be another paradox?" she asked.

"You should be fine," the past Doctor, whom the future Doctor had dubbed "Nine" answered.

She embraced the younger girl, trying to ignore the weirdness. "It all turns out alright, I promise," she said. Then, as she was about to pull away, two words came to mind. She whispered them into the girl's ear, and took off running towards the lift. She hoped that her younger self would be too stunned to try and stop her.

The Doctor watched sadly as she left. They worked a little while in silence, an stunned Rose occasionally handing him a stripped wire. "Suppose…" she mused after a while.

"What?" asked his previous incarnation. He sighed internally. He hated this part.

"Nothing," Rose said. The Doctor decided that it was best if he just kept silent.

"You said 'suppose'," Nine pointed out.

"No, I was just thinking. I mean obviously you can't, but… You've got a time machine. Why can't you just go back to last week and warn them?" she asked.

"Soon as the TARDIS lands in that second, I become part of events, stuck in the time line," he answered.

"Yeah, I thought it would be something like that," Rose said sadly.

"There's another thing the TARDIS could do. It could take us away. We could leave, let history take its course. We could go to Marbella in 1989." He had known her answer before he had even posed the question. He loved her for that.

"Yeah, but you'd never do that," she said, certain.

"No, but you could ask. Never even occurred to you, did it?" he asked.

"Well, I'm just too good," she replied, flashing him a smile. There was an electronic whooshing. The trio looked up.

"The Delta wave's started building," he explained. "How long does it need?"

The new Doctor recognized his queue. He looked over at the central computer, knowing what he was going to find before the data appeared on the screen. He looked over at the two, relaying how hopeless this was.

"Is it bad?" Rose asked. The past Doctor buried his face in his hands. "Okay, it's bad. How bad is it?"

He silently prayed for some new reaction. For the truth. But still, Nine jumped up. "Rose Tyler, you're a genius!" he exclaimed in mock excitement. He kissed her forehead. "We can do it- if I use the TARDIS to cross my own time line. Yes!" Nine ran towards the machine and unlocked it. Rose followed him inside. Although the Doctor could not hear them, he could still see that moment in his mind. He knew that he would come dashing out of the doors at any second, and activate Emergency Program One.

He didn't look up from his work as he heard the sound of the sonic screwdriver, or the engines, or Rose's futile attempt to get herself out. "You realize that not even a universe could keep Rose from you, right?" he asked when he heard the thump of Nine sitting down across from him. He laughed dryly.

"You know, I never did see my future self," the other man mentioned casually. "I didn't ask. I didn't want to force any spoilers. You see, I'm a Time Lord. If I regenerated, I could look like anyone." The Doctor continued to work silently. "When does it happen?"

"About ten minutes," the Doctor finally answered. He looked up at Nine who seemed a little disappointed, but not surprised.

"But I—we, see her again?"

"Yeah," the Doctor smiled. That seemed to be enough.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"So that was really him, huh?" Martha asked, pushing a chair into its place in the barricade. "He changed so much. Although… I can still see the resemblance."

Rose smiled. "You should've seen the look on my face when he regenerated. I had no idea what was going on. It was a little upsetting to see a scrawny, spikey haired man standing in front of me, wearing the Doctor's clothes. And the first thing he says isn't an apology, no! He comments on how weird having new teeth is." The women giggled together, neither wanting to let their minds drift to the dark places that lay ahead. Martha noticed Richard, the man the Doctor had told her to keep an eye on, watching them. After a few seconds, he slipped away. She shivered and made a mental note to watch him carefully when he got his gun.

"So, how did you first meet the Doctor?" Martha asked.

Rose smiled happily at the memory. "You remember the big explosion in London a couple years ago?"

"Yeah?" Martha asked.

"Well, I was working at the shop that night. I was supposed to see the electrician in the basement, and when I got there, some of the dummies started moving. I figured they were students or something, but then they cornered me. Suddenly, I felt this hand grab mine, and I look over to see the Doctor. He told me to run, so I did. When we were safe, he explained that he was going to blow up the building, and that I'd better go home."

"So I have you to thank for stopping the living plastic?" Martha asked.

Rose shrugged. "It was really mostly him. Did he blow up your job too?"

Martha shook her head and smiled. "No. He showed up one day in our hospital, right before we were brought to the moon. At first, I thought he was crazy, but then everything he said turned out to be true. He almost gave his life to save all of us. He promised me one trip in return for my help, which turned into two, which turned into three, and finally, he invited me on permanently."

"Rose!" shouted future Jack, racing over. "The Doctor needs you upstairs. The intercom's dying, so could you tell him that I have Lynda in position, and everything's fine?"

Rose nodded. She slipped behind the barricade, and set off down the corridor. Although it was selfish, she was glad to get away from the front lines. She knew what was going to happen any minute now, and judging by the mood, they did too. She hoped that Jack and Martha would be able to keep each other safe. They were the only two people fighting that didn't have to die.

She hadn't been sure of Martha at first. It was a little difficult getting used the thought of the Doctor traveling with someone else. Rose tried not to think of it as jealousy. After all, she had known there had been plenty of companions before her, and there would be plenty afterwards. She just wished they didn't have to be so pretty. But Martha was smart and funny, and seemed to loving seeing Rose with her Doctor.

Finally, after walking for what felt like hours through the dimly lit ship, she reached the lift. Most of its circuitry had been exposed and changed, but it apparently still worked. Rose had her doubts. She pressed the button for the 500th floor, and it whirred to life. The ride was uncomfortable and bumpy, and each time Rose was jostled by a particularly strong set of tremors, she became convinced that she was about to fall to her death.

Relief flooded her when the doors opened to reveal her doctors sitting on the floor of the control room. The past Doctor looked up and smiled at her, his eyes filled with sadness. He had confessed to her, on one of the nights when neither of them could sleep, how difficult it had been. He had been forced to choose between killing the human race and letting the Daleks win.

The future Doctor jumped up to greet her. Over his shoulder, she noticed a dark figure waiting behind him, gun raised. She didn't mean to do anything heroic, she just wanted to talk some sense into him before anyone got hurt. She raced forward, trying to put herself between the two men. Rose recognized the shooter now. It was Richard, the man Martha had mentioned.

Her Doctor turned around in what seemed like slow motion. She stood in front of him protectively, and felt a sharp pain radiating from her chest. She slumped to her knees and looked down. A dark red stain was radiating out from a hole just over her heart. That was odd. She hadn't even heard a gunshot. She slipped forward again, this time falling uncomfortably onto her stomach. Come to think of it, she couldn't hear anything anymore, just the ringing in her ears. From her place on the floor, she could see the Doctor's white trainers move slowly past her face. He was probably running towards Richard. Her vision began to dim, and slowly a song began playing in her mind. The song that emanated from the heart of the TARDIS. I'm dying, she realized. The thought was not as disturbing as she had expected. A voice rand through her head as she was lulled into a sleep-like state. Everything has its time. And everything ends. She thought that maybe he was holding her right now, but it was too dark to see anything. I love you, Doctor, thank you for everything, she thought, and slipped peacefully into the void.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The Doctor cradled the dead girl in his arms. He had felt the exact moment that her heart stopped. Nine had captured Richard and taken him to the barricades to feel the wrath of a Time Lord and his companions in entirety. A terrible fate to match a terrible deed.

He saw her last moments play over and over in his mind's eye. Rose racing forward before anyone understood what was happening, planting herself between the two men, her arms raised in surrender. Maybe she was too late. Maybe Richard had panicked at the sight of her, and fired on an impulse. It didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that she was gone.

He hugged her tighter. "Rose Tyler, I love you, I love you, I love you," he repeated until the phrase didn't sound real anymore. He hated that he never was able to say it while she was alive. He had once burned up a star just to say goodbye. Given the opportunity, he wondered what he'd be willing to risk if he could just tell her those three, short words. He remembered a passage from a novel he read aloud to her once. "You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world… but you do have some say in who hurts you." If any human had to break both of his hearts in a few seconds, he was very glad that it was Rose Tyler. Loving her was one of the few things that he knew he would never regret.

He moved the blonde hair out of her face and kissed her forehead gently. As they touched, he was overcome with the same feeling that had swept over him at Canary Warf as he pressed his cheek against the wall that was once a bridge between his world and the world of Rose. The feeling that she was there, and if he tried hard enough, he could still feel her. The echo of a song filled his mind. The song that the TARDIS sang when he regenerated. A sign, the remnants of Bad Wolf. He could hear it fading quickly. There wasn't time to bring her to the ship, it would have to come to them.

He lifted the key from the chain that hung around her neck. Her head rolled lifelessly as he did so, the sight making him sick. Deftly, he hooked the small piece of metal up to one of the machines. That power should be enough. Soon, the comforting sounds of the engine echoed through the room.

The TARDIS materialized a few feet away. The Doctor scooped up Rose's body, placing one arm under her knees, and the other behind her shoulders. She was surprisingly light. He murmured words of comfort to her as the doors opened on their own. He slowly stepped inside, placing her on the ground in front of the panel that concealed her heart. The Doctor removed his suit coat, rolled it up, and placed it under her head. He knew that he would not be able to stay with her for this.

The Doctor walked around the control panel until he found the small button that would expose Rose to the heart. Taking a deep breath, he pushed it, and watched as golden light poured over her body.

Rose awoke slowly. She was in a soft bed, a warm blanket covering most of her body. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked around. She appeared to be in the New Earth hospital, though it was completely empty save the woman standing next to her bed and the familiar face (literally) positioned in a corner.

"Rose!" the woman greeted warmly. Her voice sounded familiar, though Rose was certain that they had never met before. She wore a deep blue dress that flowed past her feet, and her dark waves hung freely past her waist. She looked to be in her twenties, though her golden eyes appeared ancient.

"Who are you?" she asked sleepily.

The woman laughed freely, a sound that warmed Rose's interior. "I am the TARDIS."

"That's why I recognized your voice!" exclaimed Rose. "You sing to me sometimes." The TARDIS nodded. "Why am I here? I was… I was—oh." The memories came flooding back. "Am I dead?" Her voice came out softly, almost childlike.

No. The Face of Boe's voice echoed through her mind. But you are fading. Your life is in the hands of the Doctor now.

"Do I wait here until then?" she asked. The TARDIS nodded. "Does that mean that both of you are gone as well?"

"No. This is not death, this is an in-between. I was brought here by Bad Wolf to act as your guide," the woman said.

I can never truly die, answered the Face of Boe. I have you to thank for that, Rose Tyler. He almost sounded amused.

"But, I didn't do anything to you," she protested. The realization swept over her. "Jack?" Suddenly, she felt a tugging sensation in her gut.

The TARDIS smiled. "He is calling you back Rose. Before you go, remember. I have given you a gift. A gift that can only be given by a child of Gallifrey. As long as you uphold the universe, death will never hold you. "Her voice was growing fainter, and the world around Rose was fading back into darkness. The singing started again.

"Thank you!" Rose shouted, hoping that all of her gratitude could be felt through those words.

Rose slowly blinked open her eyes. She felt nauseous and light-headed, as if she had had too much to drink. When she tried to sit up, pain shot through her chest. She heard the sound of footsteps, and the Doctor's concerned face appeared over hers. Just the sight of him made her laugh. She reached up slowly and fluffed his unruly hair.

"I like your hair. You have really great hair," she said, and dissolved into a fit of giggles. A smile broke across his face, though tears streaked down his cheeks.

"What's wrong?" she asked. It was always painful to see him sad. The thought of it sobered her up considerably.

He laughed. "No. Everything's fine." The Doctor looked, as he had so many times before, as if he was about to kiss her. Rose had grown used to it. He would stare at her for a while. Sometimes he would even lean in, but always, always, he would pull back. This time, he had come closer than ever before. He paused. Any second now, he would abruptly change topic, and go on about some scientific anomaly, or intergalactic law. But then, he closed his eyes and pressed his mouth to hers.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

She kissed back instinctually. He cupped the back of her head, and pulled her closer to him. Ignoring the pain in her chest—really, what was that?—she wrapped and arm across his neck, and ran her other hand through his hair. Finally, they broke apart. "What was that for?" she asked, grinning.

"I love you," he blurted, as if the words had been building up inside of him, and had finally broken free.

She smiled so hard that her face began to ache. "I love you too." They sat, grinning at each other, until rose was sure that they both looked like idiots. "Would you mind explaining what I'm doing on the floor of the TARDIS?" she finally asked. Her head was clearing, and the oddness of the situation struck her.

The Doctor's face darkened. "Do you remember anything?"

Rose thought for a second. "Well, I was at the barricade, and Jack sent me up here to talk to you, and when I got here, I saw Richard… Oh my god! He shot me!" Her hand flew to her chest. "I died." The Doctor nodded solemnly. "But that's not it. I had a dream. There was a woman, and the Face of Boe. They said that I wasn't dead yet. You could still bring me back. And you did."

"I'd do a lot more for you. But we should go now. I still need to finish working, and we should probably tell people that you're not actually dead," said the Doctor. He offered Rose a hand up. She took it eagerly, and winced as he pulled her up. "Are you okay?" He asked. "If you need sleep, you can just stay in the TARDIS. Oh! I should probably check everything out in the Med Bay, why didn't I think if that sooner?" He continued on, listing all of Rose's options.

"Doctor," she said calmly. "I'm fine, really. Just a bit sore. We should go."

He sighed. "Fine, but I'm serious about that trip to the Med Bay. As soon as all of this is done, I'm making sure that you're really okay."

Rose agreed, and he shrugged his suit coat on, and led her out of the TARDIS. The past Doctor stared at the wiring of the device in the center of the room, his face expressionless. "He got away," he spat as he heard the TARDIS doors shut. "That," he said a word that Rose could only assume was something incredibly offensive in Gallifreyan "got away from us. Managed to weasel his way out of my hands, and ran right at a Dalek. Died instantly. Lynda's gone too. Went the same way, but she did nothing wrong. Nothing." Rose was shocked by how angry he sounded. Usually, he only used that tone when talking about Daleks, and that was only in extreme cases.

Her Doctor cleared his throat. The man on the floor looked up. His mouth opened, and closed, and opened again. That was one of the first times that Rose had seen this incarnation speechless.

"But… How?" he finally managed to stammer.

Her Doctor looked down and pulled on his earlobe nervously. "Spoilers," he finally said.

The other Doctor looked annoyed, but didn't question him further. "Well," he said gruffly. "We should probably get work." He directed the couple to various pieces of equipment, and explained how to connect them. The task was becoming increasingly more difficult, and Rose knew the past Doctor was considerably more anxious than her. After all, he thought that he was creating a device that would wipe out all life on Earth. The silence could not be helping either.

Shyly, Rose started telling the story of one of the ill-fated science projects that she had attempted as a child. The two men seemed surprised at first, but they warmed up to the conversation quickly, laughing and contributing advice that she only understood half of. In the other dimension, she had read books and taken extra courses in physics and chemistry, but nothing could prepare her for conversations with the Doctor.

When they were almost done, Martha ran into the room, supporting a tired looking future Jack. They both wore dark expressions, though Rose couldn't tell if it was from all the death that they had witnessed (and experienced, in Jack's case) or her previous fate. Probably a combination of the two.

When they caught sight of her, however, their faces changed. Martha was clearly awed, and jack sprang forward with a smile. "Rose!" he cried. She jumped up to hug him. "Did the Doctor preform some sort of miracle, or am I not the only one who has trouble dying anymore?"

"Both," Rose smiled back, though her grin began to fade quickly. "How much time do we have before they get here?"

"Only a few minutes," Martha answered. "Are you almost done?"

Both Doctors nodded. "Just need to connect this," the past incarnation said slowly. Suddenly, the machine whirred to life. He turned to the remaining four. "You should go now."

"We're not going to leave you here, like this," Rose protested. Martha and Jack nodded in agreement.

"We've got to, Rose," the other Doctor insisted. "I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous." Ignoring the glares, he headed back towards the TARDIS. She sighed loudly, knowing that arguing with him at a time like this was pointless, gave her first Doctor one final hug, then ran to rejoin her group.

Martha had already joined the Doctor inside, but Jack was waiting for her. They gave their old friend a wave and salute, respectively, and entered the box as the engines began to start.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"It's not fair. We shouldn't leave him alone at a time like this!" Rose protested.

"It's too dangerous," the Doctor insisted, running around flipping switches on the TARDIS. "Even if we did survive the thousands of Daleks, the chance of giving something away is too high."

"I thought you said that it was impossible to leave before Bad Wolf," she said, as if using his own words against him would suddenly make the ship turn back.

"I did," he replied. "But something changed. There was some sort of… addition that balanced everything out. I only half-noticed it at the time, didn't even think of it until I realized that I had called the TARDIS."

"And you didn't tell me?" Rose asked, exasperated.

"It wasn't exactly the most important issue at the time," he replied, defensively. She looked as if she were about to question him further, but then her expression softened.

"It's alright," she said with a soft smile. "I get it. So, back to Earth?"

The Doctor nodded. "London, Cardiff, then off into the stars."

"Just Cardiff, actually," Martha corrected. "Jack's offered to let me spend a little time at Torchwood."

"Has he now?" Rose asked, one eyebrow raised. Martha blushed.

"We need someone like her around," Jack smiled, one arm draped casually over Martha's shoulder. "Someone with some experience." The way he pronounced the final word made Rose seriously hope that he meant it in a professional sense, though she had her doubts. Martha must have gotten the same idea, as she swatted his arm.

"Watch it," she said seriously, though there was no real anger in her voice. He grinned at her mischievously. They were all jostled as the TARDIS landed with a bump.

"Well," Jack said. "I guess this is our stop." Martha hugged them both, and Jack saluted. "We'll see you two again soon," he promised, exiting the ship.

"I don't doubt it," the Doctor replied. "I can't seem to get rid of you." The captain laughed, then, hand in hand with Martha, strolled away. The doors shut behind them.

"Where to first?" Rose asked, after a minute of silence.

"The Med Bay," the Doctor answered. "I wasn't kidding about that checkup."

Rose groaned. "I'm fine, really. I just want to travel again, see things no human has ever seen before."

"You promised," the Doctor reminded, almost pleadingly.

"Okay," she agreed with a sigh. "But I'm fine, I swear." She took his hand, and allowed him to lead her down the winding corridors towards the bay. Although it was a bit of a pain to have him constantly worrying about her, Rose had to admit to herself that the feeling of someone caring that much about her was extremely comforting. She squeezed his hand. "I love you."

He turned back to face her. "And I love you, Rose Tyler." His face lit up, as if just saying those words was one of the best moments of his life. She wondered how he managed to still enjoy the small pleasures of life after seeing so many extraordinary things. Of course, she reminded herself, he had witnessed a lot of ugliness as well. More than she ever cared to imagine.

She leaned into him playfully, and nearly fell over as he stepped quickly into one of the many doorways. "Here it is!" he exclaimed. The Med Bay was just as she had remembered. A sleek, well-illuminated table sat in the center of the room, surrounded by what she believed to be an unnecessary amount of equipment. Dozens of computers of different sizes lined the walls. The whole space looked futuristic and sterile, much different from the usual chaos of the TARDIS.

Rose took her place on the table as the Doctor powered on one of the many devices that hung from the ceiling. "Scanner," he explained simply. "Just shut your eyes, this may take a second."

She squeezed her eyes closed as the mechanical buzzing started to pass over her head. Rose felt as if every bone in her body was beginning to vibrate at once. It was incredibly uncomfortable, and she resisted the urge to squirm. After what felt like hours, the shaking finally stopped. She groaned and rubbed her head. "A little warning next time would be nice."

"Sorry," the Doctor said distractedly, gazing at one of the computers. His eyebrows were already knit into a tight line, and he had pulled out his glasses. He frowned and swatted the monitor with the back of his hand. After a few seconds, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and jabbed it at the screen.

"Is something wrong?" Rose asked, growing increasingly nervous. She knew to expect bad news when the Doctor went quiet.

He stared at the computer for another second. "Well," he started slowly, and her stomach dropped. "According to the readings that this is giving me, you haven't sustained any injuries. But," he gestured to her bloodstained shirt, "you clearly have." He paused for a second. "Could… could I take a look?"

"Yeah, sure. I've a got a tank top on," Rose said, hoping that she wasn't as flushed as she felt. She peeled of the old tee-shirt shyly. The bullet wound was still clearly visible, but it had healed into a light scar. She was relieved to see that it was fairly high up on the left side of her chest. The Doctor ran a careful finger over the smooth mark.

"It's definitely there, the machines just won't acknowledge it. It's like… it's there as a reminder of what can happen." She shivered at the thought.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"Well, you're not in any danger." The Doctor straightened. "A little scar isn't going to do any damage. The TARDIS probably just wants us to know that she helped." He still felt uneasy, but there was no point in worrying Rose over what was probably nothing. She nodded and stifled a yawn. "It's been a long day. How about we have dinner and go to bed. We can start traveling again tomorrow."

"Sounds great," she said, smiling gratefully. She yawned again.

"I can cook," he offered. "You shower and change."

"Thanks. I'll see you in half an hour." Picking the shirt off of floor, she headed out of the door. The Doctor watched her go. She trudged along tiredly, and he realized how exhausted she must be. It was a miracle the she was still standing. He slipped off towards the kitchen. They usually ate out on whatever planet they were visiting at the time, but there times that both of them decided that it would be best to eat in. On nights like that, they would either eat leftovers or cook together, browsing through cookbooks from hundreds of different galaxies, usually picking whatever looked best in the pictures. Or, a homesick Rose would go or something more familiar and they would cook a simple meal of pasta or salad.

He remembered one night on a planet whose name he could still not pronounce. They had stopped to eat at a small restaurant overlooking an iridescent ocean that shone with a myriad of colors in the sunset. Rose had ordered a native delicacy, a rare flower garnished with some mysterious plant life that looked like it originated from deep under the ocean. The whole dish glowed slightly with a soft bioluminescence. He remembered how amazed she had been, refusing to eat it at first, claiming that it was a work of art. Then, when she had finally been persuaded to eat it, she had insisted the best food in the universe, and that she would gladly live off of it until she glowed as well.

He hoped that he could find the plants somewhere in the TARDIS's many storage areas. It was only fair that she should be rewarded for all that she had gone through in the last few hours alone. Stopping in front of one of the many doors that hid the more valuable items, he carefully checked the tag. The flower should be stored here, though, given the unorganized nature of the TARDIS, they really could be anywhere. He opened the door cautiously; vary of any objects that might fall. Everything seemed to be in place, and in the back of the small room, the Doctor could see a faint glow. Ducking under overhanging vines and weaving through the shelves that had been displaced during flight, he slowly made his way towards it. On the way, he was able to grab the vegetables that had accompanied the blossom. At last, he reached his (slightly wilted) prize. Grinning, he wove his way back through the maze.

The preparation turned out to be fairly easy, leaving the Doctor with plenty of time to arrange the dish as artistically as possible. This task proved to be much more challenging. The garnishes stuck to his hands, and, no matter how hard he tried, would do nothing but cling messily to the flower.

He was about to quit out of frustration when Rose entered the room. She took one look at him and burst out laughing. "What?" he asked defensively. She gave him a look, and he realized how insane he must have appeared, glaring at flower through his usual glasses, pieces of some odd fruit dangling from his hands. "Hey! It's harder than it looks."

"I'm sure it is," she grinned, barely managing to contain the rest of her outburst. "Is this what I think it is?"

The Doctor nodded. "I thought that it would be a nice welcome back present."

Rose grabbed a fork from one of the drawers and took the unfinished plate to the table. "Doctor, this is amazing." She gave him an appreciative hug, and planted a quick kiss on his lips.

He smiled happily. "So are you." She nudged his arm playfully, and took her usual seat on the side of the small table that gave her a clear view of the TARDIS's entrance. The Doctor sat across from her.

Rose took a bite of the flower, and her eyes widened with pleasure. "This is so good." Her words were muffled by the mouthful of food.

He let out a giggle that sounded embarrassingly girly. "I'm glad you like it." The Doctor realized just how much he had missed these small exchanges. When he was with Rose, the entire universe seemed like a better place. The loneliness that constantly burdened him lessened, and he found it easier to enjoy everything. "It's fantastic to have you back," he said softly.

"I've been dreaming of moments like this ever since I found out that the Dimension Canon was a possibility," she replied. The heartbroken look in her eyes made him realize that the time spent in in the other universe had been just as hard on her. It also occurred to him that for Rose, their reunion wasn't all positive. She had left her family behind, and had no way to ever see them again. She had left her life behind just for him.

"Thank you," he said, and knew that she understood completely. He hastily moved the conversation to a lighter note, and they spent the rest of the meal swapping stories of their favorite trips. Every time she laughed, he felt his hearts beat a little faster, and by the end of the night, he was surprised that one of them had not failed.

"I'm sorry, but I need to go to bed now," yawned Rose when she had finished her food.

"Get a good night's sleep," he said, helping her out of her chair. "Something tells me that there will be an awful lot of running tomorrow." He kissed her good night, treasuring the feeling of her lips on his. That, he realized, was how things were supposed to be.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Rose was awoken by a scream. With a slight shock, she realized that it had been her own. Her cheeks were wet with tears, and her whole body shook. The sheets of her old bed were wrapped tightly around her legs. She took a few calming breaths and hoped that the Doctor hadn't heard her. He worried enough, and there was no sense in getting him worked up over a little nightmare. There was no such luck. He burst into the room, sonic screwdriver in hand.

"Are you alright?" he asked after realizing that there was no psychopathic alien that had found its way into her room. He wore a deep blue shirt and, Rose noticed with a slight blush, only his boxers.

"I'm fine," she said, wiping her eyes with the back of one hand. "Just a nightmare. Nothing I'm not used to." She wasn't lying. Ever since Canary Warf, memories-turned-nightmares of her moment of loss had plagued her. It had become almost routine to wake up in the middle of the night, images of either her or the Doctor vanishing into the Void flashing through her mind. Tonight, however, had been different.

It had started off like all of the others, with the moment that she realized what had to be done, her fingers relinquishing their painful hold on the lever, the all-powerful pull of the Void. But his time, after Pete had rescued her from oblivion, she was greeted in the other universe by steely glares from her family. "You abandoned us. My only daughter left me forever. And for what? A man." Each of Jackie Tyler's words stung the hatred behind them almost tangible. Rose tried to protest, but she found that she could no longer move. He needs me, she tried to yell, but no sound came out.

Then, she was back at Bad Wolf Bay, completely alone save the ghostly impression of the Doctor. "Why did you leave me Rose?" he asked, sounding heartbroken. "I'm so alone. I needed you, and you deserted me!" His image faded, taking her world with it. All that was left was the darkness and a familiar robotic voice. "Exterminate!"

Rose struggled to contain another wave of sobs. "I must seem like a wreck," she said jokingly. "I swear I'm not usually like this."

"It's alright," he reassured her. "You've had a rough day. It's a miracle you've held it together for this long." She sniffed and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she managed to choke out. "I just keep thinking that—that my mum thinks I've left her all alone, and she hates me for it."

"I know Jackie Tyler. Right now she's probably lying awake cursing my name. But never, not for one second, could she hate you," the Doctor said. "She loves you, she really does. And she's not alone anymore. She's got Pete and Mickey. They'll take care of her. Don't worry. It's all going to be alright. Trust me."

"Thank you," Rose said. The shock of the dream was beginning to be replaced with exhaustion. Her head dropped down to his chest, and she was lulled to sleep by the sound of his twin hearts.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

When Rose awoke again, the Doctor was gone. She stretched and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The TARDIS hummed gently, reminding her that it was time to get ready for their next trip. She sprang happily out of bed and rushed to the dresser. Her Union Jack shirt and favorite pair of jeans were waiting for her in the top drawer. She grinned and quickly changed into the outfit. Her room appeared to have been left untouched since her last night in it; everything, even the small objects in her drawers, had not moved. Before leaving, Rose ran a brush through her hair, and applied her usual eye makeup.

The Doctor was staring intently at a screen on the console. "I've got the perfect place!" he yelled excitedly as he heard her approach. "Nothing too dangerous, perfect for a welcome back trip! And beautiful, oh it's gorgeous!" He flashed one of those smiles that forced her to grin along with him.

"Sounds great!" she said, walking over to join him. He slammed his hand down on one of the buttons, and the TARDIS took off.

The flight was fairly smooth. It felt good to help fly the TARDIS again, and Rose's hands glided across the controls easily. She had (or so the Doctor said) a natural talent with the ship, and she found that sometimes she could operate by herself, though she wasn't yet comfortable enough to take any control. An image flashed through her mind. A pretty, dark haired woman wearing a deep blue dress smiled softly at her. Rose blinked, surprised. The image vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Rose was sure she knew her from somewhere, but she couldn't place it.

"You alright?" the Doctor asked. He was fiddling with the TARDIS and didn't appear to be fully paying attention. That was the slightly absentminded, eccentric man that she had fallen for.

"Fine," she answered. "Just thinking." He made a noise that might have been a mumbled "good," but she couldn't be sure.

There was a soft thud to signal their landing. He abandoned his work and rushed to the door. "Rose Tyler, welcome to Halliphere." He gently pushed a door open. She ran outside, eager to be the first to experience this new planet. They had landed in the middle of a thick forest at what appeared to be dusk, though it was hard to tell if any light ever managed to make its way through the tick canopy. A springy moss carpeted the ground. Insects that looked like a combination of a butterfly and a firefly danced through the warm air. A fresh, piney scent was carried towards her by the wind. The only reminders that she was not back on Earth were the small, silvery bird-like creatures that flitted from tree to tree.

She turned back towards the Doctor. "It's beautiful," she gasped. He smiled and grabbed her hand.

"Fancy a walk around?" he asked eagerly.

"I'd love one," she smiled, flirtatiously. He led her through the woods, naming all of the flora and fauna they came across. A few curious irids, the bugs that looked like fireflies, followed them, darting in front of their faces or tangling themselves in the Doctor's hair. When he noticed, he would gently pick them out and release the creatures back into the air, though most of the time he had a few hitchhikers illuminating his face with a warm golden light.

After what felt like a half an hour of walking, Rose began to hear the sea. The trees thinned quickly, revealing a pale, sandy beach. Her prediction of dusk had not been completely accurate, she found. The sky was actually a brilliant pink, a few orange streaks visible around golden sun that was slowly sinking below the horizon. The entire ocean reflected the vibrant colors, mixing them with its own deep indigo. "This planet is… is…" she struggled to find a word that would properly encapsulate all the beauty she had experienced so far.

"And it's like this all the time. Because of Halliphere's orbital pattern and rotation, the sun is constantly setting for this part of the planet," he explained.

"A never ending sunset," Rose sighed. She wondered what it would be like to live here. Would she be awestruck whenever she stepped outside, or would she gradually get used to it, until this spectacular display just seemed average?

"A never ending sunset," the Doctor agreed. He pulled her a little closer. "I always meant to bring you here. I knew you'd love it." She struggled to look away for long enough to meet his eyes.

"Thank you," she said honestly. "It's amazing." He smiled proudly. Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and placed what was supposed to be a quick kiss on his lips. Before she could quite understand what they were doing, his hands slid down to the small of her back, and she had pulled his head down closer to hers. At last, she pulled away to catch her breath. The Doctor looked a little ruffled, but he was still grinning cockily. "I like this new Doctor," Rose grinned, tongue poking through her teeth.

"Yeah?" he asked, eyebrows raised, as if he was worried that for whatever reason, she secretly disliked traveling to beautiful, distant planets and being kissed in the light of an eternal sunset.

"Yeah," she confirmed. He smiled giddily, looking incredibly happy for himself. They spent the rest of their time on the beach in silence, enjoying the simple pleasure that being together brought. Finally, they turned back to the forest, and walked hand in hand through the twilight, slowly making their way to the TARDIS.

**(A/N) Thank you all for your reviews, follows, and favorites! I'm sorry that I've been a bit irregular with my posts. I've been super busy lately, and that, paired with terrible writer's block, has not been great for these past couple of chapters. I have a couple ideas for the upcoming chapters, and I'd love to see what you guys think is best. I'm torn between either doing a season four rewrite or having more of the Doctor and Rose on their own. I've also been considering a Merlin crossover for a couple of chapters, which I could work in to either idea, though I'm not sure if anyone would be interested. Any advice on what to do next would be amazing, and thank you for reading!**

**N.T. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks everyone for your input! Reviews keep me going. Also, I have to thank all of you for bearing with me through the fluffy, fangirly chapters. I have worked through my block (or so I hope) and aliens/ near death experiences are returning! Remember to follow or leave me a review if you enjoy it, or you think that I could improve anything. Constructive input can only make me better. **

Chapter Sixteen

After a few more trips to less spectacular areas of Halliphere, the Doctor finally agreed to take Rose to somewhere that he had not yet visited, somewhere with adventure. As wonderful as their peaceful hikes were, she began to feel almost bored. Nothing had tried to take over the planet and/or kill them, and traveling seemed a little pointless if they weren't doing any good.

Tentatively, the coordinates of the closest human-friendly, inhabited planet were entered, and with only a slight noise from the engines, they were off. The flight was so smooth that Rose could have sworn that they were standing still. Only the pumping of the motor in the center and a light hum that reverberated through her feet alerted her that they were spinning through the Time Vortex.

A sudden jolt made her fall flat on her bum. The man across from her clung tightly to the controls, though it was clear that he too had been surprised by the sudden disturbance. The humming of the TARDIS changed almost imperceptibly. "You okay?" the Doctor asked the machine softly, sounding concerned. It had evened out again, though a sense of wrongness hung in the air. "Are you sick?" he ran his hands gently over a few of the controls, pushing buttons and twisting knobs as he did so. They wobbled slightly, and he anxiously pulled down a few more levers.

They landed with a slight thud, a great billow of steam chasing them out of the control room. The gravity was slightly less powerful here, and Rose surprised herself by taking a large leap as she dashed out of the ship. The Doctor made a similar mistake as he followed after her, though his miscalculation almost resulted in a face full of thorns from the nearest patch of plant life. He pulled himself back, somehow managing to look dignified while doing so. Rose rolled her eyes and turned back to the TARDIS. "What's wrong?" she asked, staring intently at their vessel.

The Doctor shrugged. "That wasn't anything serious. She's just got a bit of a cough. Probably overworked, the poor girl." He patted the side of the box tenderly. "We should let her rest a bit." He paused, an adventurous smile spreading over his face. "Want to meet the natives?" Rose took his arm as he set the sonic screwdriver to search for life, and followed as he turned all the way around, and set off across the primarily barren section of desert that they had landed on.

Buttery yellow sand stretched for as far as the eye could see, broken only be the small patches of the thorny, coral-like plants that the Doctor had almost landed in. Rose thought she might be able to make out the small silver streak of a river in the distance, though it may have just been a trick of the light. It was definitely warm, and she could feel the rays from the fiery sun pouring over her shoulders, though it was nothing compared to some of the planets she had visited. The small lack of gravity only made their trek all the more manageable.

Sweat was beginning to accumulate of her forehead when the Doctor stopped abruptly, made a sharp left turn, and pointed the screwdriver at what appeared to be thin air. Sure enough, however, the blue glow revealed the faint outlines of a huge, reflective glass dome at least the size of a small town. "I think we've found the inhabitants," he said gleefully, leading her around the dome until they came across what looked like a door. The Doctor knocked loudly. Within a few seconds, the panel was pulled open to reveal a tall, olive skinned woman with dark hair pulled into a severe bun on top of her head. She was flanked by two masked guards holding almost comically large guns. Behind them, Rose could barely make out a few buildings that looked to be part of a town. "Welcome," the woman said, her voice thick with an accent that Rose couldn't quite place, and she highly doubted that it originated anywhere near Earth. "This is the Settlement. We've been expecting you." She gestured encompassingly behind her, though Rose was too preoccupied by her latter words to take advantage of the improved view of the city.

"What do you mean, you've been expecting us?" the Doctor asked, eyebrows furrowed. "We only just landed on this planet."

"We were told that visitors would arrive today," she explained with a smile that did not reach her eyes. "Though we were not given much more information. May I ask your names?"

"I'm the Doctor. This is my friend, Rose Tyler," he introduced. The woman laughed, an unexpectedly high, cheerful sound that nonetheless sent chills down Rose's spine.

"An empty title. Doctors are unnecessary in the Settlement." Her statement was eerily similar to something a cyberman had once told him. "If you two would please follow me, I have orders to escort you to our leader." With a nod to each of the guards, she set off at a brisk pace. The two travelers struggled to match her pace.

The Doctor looked uncomfortable. He had not questioned her mention of the absence of pain, but Rose knew sometimes it was better not to ask. "May we leave after that?" he asked. Usually he was enthusiastic about new, incredibly strange situations like this, and if he wanted to go back, something must be seriously wrong.

The woman laughed again. "Of course not. No one who enters the Settlement is allowed to leave. Who would want to?" She gave them each a condescending look, and stalked along in silence, as if to better let them fully take in their situation.


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm sorry that it took so long to publish this. There has been a bit of a family crisis recently, and I have had absolutely no time to write. I have, however been planning the next couple of trips, so hopefully it will be downhill from here. Without further ado, my unfairly short seventeenth chapter. Please remember to leave a review if you like it. **

Chapter Seventeen

Their guide, the Doctor made a mental note to ask her name later, wove expertly through the many streets of the Settlement. He shuddered. Something about that title seemed wrong. It wasn't really a settlement. A settlement was supposed to be a young, small village-y place. This was just the opposite. Large and sprawling, with understated yet graceful architecture, it appeared to be more like a great capital. Of course, he noted, all of the inhabitants were human, at least judging by appearance. And yet, their buildings were definitely of Earthen design.

"So, how'd you come up with a name like 'the Settlement'? It seems like 'the City' would be more accurate. Or 'the Metropolis.' I like that. Has a nice ring to it," he mused aloud, hoping to ease the worry that was building in his gut. The woman's previous statement about them not leaving was especially unnerving. She had also mentioned that they would not want to leave. It was always the perfect societies that were the most deadly.

"It was chosen by our gods," she answered without looking back. "They brought us to this place. And here, they preformed a miracle. The built us a city and granted the first settlers, as well as all of the inhabitants of our beautiful city, lives free of all pain, suffering, and imperfections. We are given perfect lives." Of course. The textbook utopia. Nothing could be more ominous.

"And we're going to their temple now? Perfect," he grinned.

"Yes," the woman agreed. "They will be very pleased to see you."

"Hold on," Rose said. "You're gods are here? They're not just a myth?"

"Of course not." The condescension returned to her tone.

"Well… What's your name?" the Doctor asked.

"Cereline," their guide answered.

"Well Cereline, this just gets better and better," he said lightly. He took Rose's hand, trying to silently apologize for immediately taking her back into yet another situation that practically screamed "Get out of here now!" She didn't seem to notice. Looking up, he noticed a mischievous smile and odd gleam in her eyes. She's loving this, he realized. Of course, the times that he had been forced to slow down, it had nearly driven him crazy, but humans were supposed to be different. Sure, they would love the travel, but after a while, they would realize that their families were more important and go back to ordinary life.

Rose was different. She had yelled at him for letting the TARDIS inside her head. She had looked into the Time Vortex, had faced down an army of Daleks, had come back from both another universe and death in the same day. And she still wanted more. He wondered if she would ever decide that enough was enough. The thought was almost laughable. Neither of them would ever stop running.

Cereline stopped in front of a modest white stone building. It was smaller and more human-looking than the surrounding structures, though its steps shone brightly and it looked well kept. The passersby looked upon it with reverence, and a few stopped and bowed before going on their way. The plain white marble did seem to shine a little brighter tin the sunlight that penetrated the dome overhead. Something about the spectacle made him feel happy and complacent. Nothing could be wrong here. We should meet quickly with these gods and then find our new home. If Cereline says that no one would want to leave, and she's probably right. Rose and I could settle down and—he stopped himself there. Something was wrong. His thoughts traveled slowly, and he found that he had trouble thinking clearly. Cereline appeared to be totally enthralled with the building, while Rose just looked annoyed.

"C'mon then," the blonde girl said. "I've met Satan. Seeing some gods would be nice."

Cereline nodded curtly, ignoring the obvious insanity of the statement. Maybe communing with deities on a regular basis had opened her mind. "Please try to treat them with the utmost respect."

"Of course," he beamed, as they started up the steps. "Rose and I are always respectful, aren't we Rose?"

"One of us at least," she smirked. He wanted to respond, but the closer that they got to the doors, the fuzzier his head was. There were only a few things in the universe that could incapacitate a Time Lord in such a manner, all of them dangerous. Whoever these gods were, he was certain that they meant him harm, though the smaller the distance between the them, the more sure he was that they should obey their new master's every command.


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm going to stop being so optimistic about quick updates. I have been insanely busy recently, and I have almost no time to write. I will try to post as often as possible, but I might be slowed down to a chapter a week. I'm going to launch into the fourth season fairly soon, complete with some brand new characters, so be ready for that. Anyways, thank you for reading and please review.**

Chapter Eighteen

The room was dimly lit by a few steadily pulsing lights attached to the walls. A definite musty smell hung in the air, and a small table, the only furnishings in the large, circular space, was covered in a layer a dust. Rose coughed, trying in vain to rid her lungs of the stale air. "Would it kill you dust in here?" she asked.

Cereline ignored her question, instead proceeding across the floor to an empty doorway. The Doctor followed her in a dream-like state. She was forced to jog to catch up with his long strides. Usually his formulation of a scheme involved quite a lot of talking, but she had not decided whether it was his way of distracting their enemies, or he just liked thinking out loud. The quiet was unsettling.

Even up close, the darkness of the doorway was impenetrable. They certainly seemed to enjoy terrifying the people who were destined to meet their so-called gods. One of the escorts handed Cereline a torch the glowed with a dim red light. It did little to penetrate the ominous darkness. From what she could see, there was a long, sloping corridor that descended into the unknown. Ignoring the instincts that old her to turn and run, Rose pushed a little closer to the Doctor and stepped into the abyss with him.

Their walk could not have been very long, but with just enough light to see the ground in front of them and the strange noises that echoed through the passageway, Rose could have sworn that they were down under the city for hours. The walls around them became, from what she could make out, increasingly more natural and cave-like as they descended. At last, the ground beneath them began to level out. Their footfalls reverberated around them more loudly, and Rose got the feeling that they were entering a much larger room.

Cereline stopped abruptly in front of them, nearly causing a minor collision. "Our guests have arrived," she intoned. An eerie blue-green light filled the room. Rose blinked rapidly, the sudden change almost blinding. She squinted and tried to make out their surroundings. It appeared to be a musty cave, furnished with simple chairs in one corner and a door, much like the entrance to the temple, in another. The plain light bulbs that hung from the ceiling shone a piercing, blue-green over the three "gods."

They were vaguely humanoid, though more similar to the mermaids that Rose had once seen in a film than anything else. Their skin, at least the parts that were visible beneath the long, black robes that they all wore, was a pale lilac. Large eyes dominated their faces, glowering at the newcomers through hair-like tentacles. The long, thin necks were striped with what looked gills, though they occasionally released a dusty powder that was fanned throughout the room by small fins.

"No," the Doctor said quietly, his voice coming out barely louder than a whisper. "It can't be. You should be dead. Your kind was wiped out in the Time War."

"We could say the same of you, Time Lord," replied one of the aliens. Its voice was surprisingly high, eerily similar to a child's.

"What are they?" Rose asked, only half wanting the answer. Anything from the war was almost certainly deadly, and probably in some unusual, horrible way.

"They were never given a proper name," the Doctor said, grimly. His voice was somewhat slower than normal, but still faster than a normal human's. "We called them the Puppet Masters. Their planet lay at the edge of the universe, and from it, they sent out spies and warriors to control empires, planets, even galaxies from behind the scenes. You see that dust?" She nodded. "It acts like a drug to most races, dulling their senses, making them happy and complacent."

Rose's hand immediately went to protect her mouth and nose to protect from the dangerous particles.

"You're okay," he reassured her. "Doesn't affect humans."

"What about Time Lords?"

"We're a little more susceptible. That's why we wiped 'em out at the beginning of the Time War. Couldn't have some inferior species controlling us, especially not in such a difficult situation." The anger was evident in the Doctor's voice.

"And now Gallifrey's favorite soldier, has come to us, lured by simple humans. They weren't even pure blooded," scoffed another Puppet Master. "With you, we can control all of space and time. The entire universe, all of what has happened and what may dime to be, under our control. And you will lead us into the Golden age." With that, the two escorts that had flanked them throughout the city grabbed the Doctor, while Cereline held Rose in place with an iron grip.

He struggled against the men, doing his best to fight through the daze. The Puppet Masters payed no attention to the futile attempt at escape, calmly leading the way to the dark door that seemed so far away from Rose. "Let me go," she hissed at the woman holding her. "You don't get it. We need him. We all need him."

Cereline looked down pitifully. "The gods always do what's best. Do not try to fight them. No good can come of it."

Rose continued to kick and flail. "Doctor!" she yelled, as the door was opened and he was dragged into the room that lay beyond.

"Rose!" he called back, the last of his cry silenced as the wood slammed back into the stone frame.


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm sorry that it's so short, but I had to cut it short for my new set-up. Remember to review and follow if you like it. Thank you!**

Chapter Nineteen

Rose drove her heel into Cereline's shin. She loosened her grip momentarily, and Rose tore forwards, freeing herself. As soon as the hands left her wrists, she sprinted towards the door as fast as possible. She didn't dare to look back, only forward to the looming darkness. Her hand shot out for the doorknob, grabbing it as soon as she came close enough. It wouldn't budge. She slammed her shoulder against it in exasperation. The only reward was a dull thud and a bruised arm. Rose shut her eyes and leaned against the cool wood.

Cereline's approaching footsteps echoed through the cavern. They faltered and stopped when she was at least close enough to reach out and touch. After a few moments, a faint _clink_ broke the silence. Rose opened her eyes and looked to the rough ground. A plain, silver key lay conspicuously in the dust. Slowly, she reached to pick it up, wary of Cereline's proximity. "You attacked me and got the key yourself, understood?" the woman asked softly when Rose straightened. She nodded, surprised. "Good. Now go, before it's too late." Without a second glance, Rose fit the key in the lock, then entered the room beyond.

Her first thought was that she had entered some science fiction film. The walls, floor and ceiling were made of a glossy white substance, and the entire room smelled of disinfectant. At the center sat an illuminated metal table. A few opaque bottles of liquid and syringes lay on a small cart. The Doctor was in the middle of it all, grinning like an idiot. Two electrode-like stamps were attached to his forehead, and the aliens were staring at the results projected onto a large screen nearby. Their escorts were nowhere in sight.

"Rose!" the Doctor cried out when he saw her. Three sets of eyes turned to focus on her. One of the Puppet Masters advanced towards her calmly. She backed away, fumbling for the door. "Look what I got," he carried on, pulling up one of his sleeves. A small bandage was pressed onto his arm. "They gave me a shot!"

"We have injected the Time Lord with a control matrix," corrected the alien closest to her. "His body is processing the compounds. You may stay in one of our dwellings together until he is ready," the Puppet Master glanced back towards the screen, "tomorrow afternoon. But know this. If you so much as try to leave your room unaccompanied, every human in this city will be executed."

"That's not nice," the Doctor scowled. "Killing people is bad." The bad mood lasted only a second, and he was soon back to the vacant smile.

"I'll take him," she replied darkly.

"Good," the alien smiled icily. "We will arrange for Cereline to guide you to your room. And know this Rose Tyler: a new reign is beginning tomorrow, and there is nothing that you can do to stop it."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Rose settled heavily on the couch. Cereline had led them expertly through the streets of the Settlement, to a tall building that perfectly matched the ones around it. She had kept a brisk pace, never mentioning what she had done for Rose. The Doctor had marched along next to her, whistling tunelessly. The couple had been left at the door with directions up to their flat on the ninth floor.

It was set up like a small hotel room, with a single bed, a small kitchen, and a couch that passed as a living room. Everything was new and gleaming, and there were no signs of any previous occupants. In fact, if it weren't for the bowl of fresh fruit left out the counter, Rose would have guessed that they were the first to enter the flat.

The Doctor plopped down next to her. "What's wrong?" he asked, the normal soft, worried tone gone, replaced with childish concern.

She gritted her teeth in anger. "It's nothing."

"C'mon," he coaxed. "You help me when I'm sad."

"No, I don't," she snapped. "I help the Doctor. You're not him; you're just the result of an experiment." He cocked his head to one side, like a scolded puppy. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't get angry at you. The Puppet masters are the only ones who can be blamed for this."

"They're nice, really," he smiled, returning to vacant smile. "The only bad thing they did was give me a shot, but that wasn't too bad. It only hurt a little."

"Sure," she argument would be pointless. Filling his mind with images of the Time War would just be cruel.

The new Doctor seemed to take that as an agreement, because he leapt up, heading towards the fruit basket. He rummaged around, a look of intense concentration on his face. Finally, he gave a shout of triumph and displayed a pear above his head. "They gave us pears. I love pears!" Returning to Rose's side, he ate eagerly, asking her questions about her life in the other universe all the while. She answered most of them, putting more of an emphasis on her boring, daily activities than she normally would have. The rest of it should be saved for her Doctor.

Eventually, he grew tired. Although Rose knew that the bed was easily big enough for both of them, she did not protest when he offered to take the couch. With no more than a hushed good night, the each retired.

Rose awoke to a soft knock on the empty door frame in the middle of the night. She rubbed her eyes and sat upright. The Doctor's tall frame was silhouetted in the darkness. "Rose?" he asked, sounding almost normal for a moment. "Do you think the TARDIS is okay?"

"I'm sure she's fine, why?"

The Doctor looked slightly embarrassed. "I just had a bit of a nightmare. Nothing too bad."

Rose lifted up the large duvet. "You want to stay in here." He looked surprised, but nodded, settling down next to her. She fell back to sleep with his arms around her. His breathing was deep, though his hearts were still racing from the rush of adrenaline.

When Rose opened her eyes again, the Doctor was gone. She trudged out of her room to find him waiting on the sofa next to Cereline. "Good morning," he greeted cheerfully.

"Is it time to go?" Rose asked, her mind quickly clearing.

"Yes," the woman responded, her voice calm and steady. Swallowing against the lump in her throat, Rose followed silently down the winding stairs, and into the light morning sun. The streets were busy with people heading to work, and the rarely attracted a second glance. It seemed odd that people could go about their normal routines when the end of the world was so close at hand.

As they neared the church, the crowds cleared. People gave the steps a wide berth, possibly subconsciously realizing that the evil within was beginning to stir. Cereline, however, proceeded forwards without faltering. They sped through the first room, and she stopped only briefly to turn on her torch before entering the dark tunnel.

This morning, the cavern was empty, but the laboratory door had been left ajar. The dark haired woman did not enter, but signaled for them to go on. A faint look of discomfort in her eyes was the only sign that she was beginning to doubt her orders.

The Puppet Masters were still clustered around their screen, talking quietly.

"Can't risk another episode like last night," one muttered.

"Adrenaline inhibitors with today's dose," another suggested. The conversation stopped abruptly as the Doctor cleared his throat innocently. "Ah," smiled the creature that had been speaking earlier. "You just need one more injection, then you should be ready."

The Doctor sat obediently down on the metal table while they gathered the necessary equipment. Rose's mind was racing. Last night, he had been more clear-headed than he should have been. If they were trying an adrenaline inhibitor, it probably came from his fear of the Time War. When they had first met the Puppet Masters, the danger that their existence posed had made him more aware. If she could scare him now, he could return to normal, at least long enough to tell her what to do.

"Doctor, remember the Daleks? You've outlasted all of them. In the wrong hands, you're even more dangerous than their army. You'll give these monsters the ability to wipe out entire galaxies."

"Stop it," growled one of the Puppet Masters.

"And that's not even counting what they might to with the TARDIS. And they won't treat her very well either. You don't want a piece of Time Lord technology in their hands, do you?" The Doctor's eyes widened, though they hadn't yet gained the usual depth.

A clammy hand tightened around her arm. "This is very unwise," advised a cool voice in her ear.

"C'mon Doctor," she continued. "The entire universe is depending on you." He was clearly terrified, but it wasn't enough. _If they tried to kill me_, she thought, but quickly decided against risking her life in gamble just yet. How else could she scare a Time Lord that had faced down empires, armies, even the devil himself? It seemed that nothing short of a horde of Daleks would be able to bring him back.

Then something occurred to her. He never talked about it, sometimes going out of his way to avoid it. Better yet, if it failed, all she would lose was her dignity. Taking a deep breath, Rose grabbed the hem of her shirt with her free hand and pulled it upwards.

The Doctor's eyes widened, and his face flushed a shade of red that she had previously thought was impossible in nature. "Rose?" he squeaked. "What the hell are you doing?" Then, he looked around as if he were observing their surroundings for the first time. She used the opportunity to quickly pull her clothing back into place. "Oh, oh c'mon. If you plan on using a control matrix, you really need to us an adrenaline inhibitor with the first dose."

"This is not a problem," the Puppet Master that was holding Rose's arm said. "You will be injected again."

"I will not," he scoffed, and tried to stand up, though a look of discomfort flashed across his face and he sat back down. "You let me have a pear. Rose, you let me have a pear! I hate pears."

"Doctor, that's not exactly the most important issue right now," she protested.

"Right!" he yelled, and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the cabinets, shattering the plethora of glass bottles and syringes. "Oh yeah, and always, _always, _take away his sonic."


End file.
